High Noon: A Sweet Romance (Red Canyon Series Book 3)

by Laura Westbrook

  “Hi,” the guy said.

  Lynn bobbed her head. “Good day.”

  “I was wondering if you could help us. We’re doing Old West bingo, and we only have a few more squares to go. We’re allowed to ask you certain questions, but you have to say the answer.”

  They both looked at Lynn expectedly, and she didn’t have to feign much ignorance when it came to this one. She wasn’t sure how to play. “I don’t know of what you speak, good sir, but I’m glad to help.” That sounded old fashioned enough.

  “Can you tell me what occupations people have here in town?”

  “Certainly. There’s the local blacksmith, town merchants, sheriff, hotel owner, wheelwright…”

  “The wheelwright!” the woman said. “That’s it. That’s all we needed. We didn’t think we’d get that one. You all don’t have a building for that here.”

  That’s it? That was easy. “I’m glad I was of service. If you like, I could put in a good word with the blacksmith. You might need someone to fit the alignment before the wheel goes on. He’s just over there yonder.”

  The man grinned, but he had to know she was simply doing her job. “No, that’s all we need. Thanks.”

  That challenge was a little tougher, but quickly over. Now back to avoiding people until her next break—why Lynn was so relieved when a park employee approached her.

  “It’s time for lunch,” he said. “I’m letting people know.”

  Lynn glanced over his shoulder and noticed a face character dressed as a junior sheriff walking past. He clutched a bag of chips under one arm and held a can of soda in the other. A family walked past him, and a boy around five years old ran over and stared up at him with big eyes.

  At the same moment that would’ve been the right time to say hello, the face character dipped his head back to take a sip of his soda. With his face angled her direction, she recognized him as Jasper, the man who’d flirted with her during the last performance. The little boy stood there as Jasper walked off. If the boy had said something, Jasper must not have heard. She doubted he’d simply ignore a customer like that.

  “You’ve got thirty minutes,” the employee in front of Lynn said.

  Lynn stopped him before he could move on. “Can you let me know how it works? This is my first full shift. Not everyone lunches at the same time, right?”

  “Right. Lunch is thirty minutes, and only a third of the employees eat at any given time. That way, it staggers it out so the place isn’t totally empty. You know where the cafeteria is, right?”

  “I’ve never been inside, but I know where it is. Thanks.”

  Blissfully, she’d ended up not too far from the office, which was also close to the cafeteria. Not only was that a plus to avoid people, but it also helped speed things up. Thirty minutes wasn’t very much time to make her way over, eat, and get out of there. She lifted up her long skirt and made her way just short of running.

  The cafeteria was packed, even with only a third of the face characters. She spotted a few other people in plainclothes, if a bit nicer ones, so she supposed management was in on the lunch as well. All in all, she was pretty excited about the free lunch, which was something not extended to the crew staff. There was at least one perk to being a face character, and a free lunch certainly fit the bill. That, and being around Luke.

  She grabbed a tray at the beginning of the line and merged into the flow of traffic walking in front of warming pan after warming pan of delicious looking food. Probably delicious was in the eye of the beholder, but her version of cooking usually meant microwave dinners and sandwiches, so it all looked gourmet to her.

  A taco bar? Inside, she was freaking out. If there was one thing she loved most on a buffet line, it was a taco bar. With more excitement than she cared to show, she grabbed four taco shells and started shoveling ground beef into them. There were five different kinds of salsas to drizzle on top, not to mention three types of cheeses. She was in heaven.

  At the other end of the line, she looked for any available seats. Most of the tables were four-seaters and occupied by at least three people. She didn’t spot anyone she knew, and she really didn’t feel like making any new friends at the moment, so she kept looking until she eventually hunted down a small, empty two-seater in the corner.

  The entire room was an odd collection of humanity. The clash of the clothing styles was apparent everywhere, with more than a few tables mixing antique and modern clothing. At one table, a guy in nearly a full suit sat across from a guy in overalls with no shoes.

  The chair groaned as she pulled it back to sit down. She probably was the only person who didn’t have a salad or fries or any kind of side. Just her tacos, and she was good to go. Life was too short to mess around with sides. She only got one bite in before a voice above her asked if the other seat was taken.

  She was a split second away from giving the guy the rough side of her tongue for interrupting her taco enjoyment when she realized it was Luke. Like usual, he was dressed in his classic sheriff’s outfit, something she’d gotten so used to seeing on him. He could probably wear that outside the park as normal clothing and she still wouldn’t mind.

  “No, it’s not,” Lynn said. “Have a seat.” Her mouth was so full that she had to shove all the food into her cheek to be able to talk normally—reasonably normally. At least he could tell what she’d said.

  “Thanks. There aren’t many seats left, and the people at those tables are pretty boring.”

  “More boring than me?”

  He grinned. “I think you’re pretty interesting.”

  Inside, her stomach lurched. She told herself that he was just a man like anyone else, but that wasn’t true. This was Luke, the most handsome sheriff that side of the Mississippi. There were probably other women staring at them right now—probably most more deserving than her—jealous that she got to enjoy his company.

  “Thank you.” Not knowing what to say, she picked up her first taco and craned her neck to take another bite. There wasn’t a graceful way to eat tacos, and she already regretted her food selection. He had a mixture of things on his plate, all of which could be eaten with a fork. If he did it on purpose, he’d thought ahead.

  “So how’s your day so far?”

  “Not too bad. I tried to get away with not talking to anyone while in costume, but no luck. I talked to a kid and a couple.”

  “That’s still pretty good. I probably talk to a dozen or two guests a day at least.”

  She held her taco in place and properly cleared her mouth this time before replying. “Yeah, but that’s while playing the sheriff. You probably attract a lot more people.” She realized the double meaning of that as soon as she’d said it. You’re attracting me too. For some reason, it was hard admitting that to herself, but it was getting a little easier each time.

  “Well, shucks,” he said, adding in some of his character’s accent. “You sure know how to make a fella feel good.”

  From anyone else, she’d find that absolutely corny—she usually disliked forced accents, but from him, it wasn’t so bad. Charming even.

  “ ‘Tis honest truth.” Oh God, now I’m doing it too. What has he done to me?

  Thankfully, she didn’t have to keep it up, as he dropped it right after. “Do you know when our next performance is together?”

  “I’m not sure. Today was my first street duty, and as far as I know, I’m on that until they tell me otherwise. Carol told me this morning to expect more performances, but that’s all the detail I got.”

  “I think there’s a few more shootouts this week, but I’m not sure who’s in it. Before the season, some of the face characters practice a few different scenes, then we block them from there. That way, if something changes last minute, we’re already familiar with how things will go.”

  She glanced up at the clock and realized how much time had passed. Her lunch period was already halfway over. Thirty minutes wasn’t nearly enough time, especially with a handsome man making conversation wi
th her. That made it far more distracting.

  A part of her felt like asking why he’d come over to sit with her. There were plenty of other attractive women in the room, yet he’d passed all those tables to sit with her. She had a healthy sense of self-esteem, but she still wanted to know…but she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

  “That makes sense. I’m sure you guys practice quite a lot.”

  He shrugged. “Yes and no. It’s nice because we don’t really have any lines. Sure, there might be one or two, but it’s not like being in a theater production or movie. It’s all blocking—where I stand and where he steps and then where I aim. That sort of thing.”

  She was just about to ask something else, but it flew out of her mind as soon as he said, “So tell me something about you. I feel like I don’t know you as much as I’d like. What are your hobbies? What do you like to read or do for fun?”

  Her mouth opened but no sound came out. She didn’t exactly expect that. Some small talk about work like they had so far, sure, but this went beyond that.

  “Well, I do like to read. I like cozy mystery novels, mainly. And rock climbing. I could say that I like listening to music, but everybody likes that.”

  He leaned forward. “That’s pretty cool. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to someone who had a passion for rock climbing. Don’t you get scared up there?”

  She took another bite and finished her first taco but didn’t time it well, so they ended up in silence for three seconds while she chewed. It seemed like he had every bite timed perfectly, where he swallowed his food right before it was his turn to say something. It wasn’t fair.

  “A little bit,” she said. “But that’s kind of the point. I do it for the adrenaline rush. If it was only ten feet in the air, then there wouldn’t be a point to it. Plus, the views are spectacular.”

  He finished off a bite of baked beans. She hadn’t even seen that in the line. “Wait, I need to know about the cozy mystery novels. Are those the ones that people read in front of a fireplace with hot chocolate? And you know who did it halfway through?”

  She laughed mid-bite, and the vibrations traveled through the taco shell to her fingers. “It depends on who you ask. Cozy mysteries try to keep some people guessing, but I almost always guess who it is.”

  “And the covers are fuzzy and soft?”

  “Something like that. More like pastel colors. Sometimes they’re illustrated.”

  “I like to read, although I haven’t as much lately. I’ve read some mysteries, but not the cozy kind. Mostly thrillers and stuff like that. Sometimes the best Sunday mornings are with a book and a mug of coffee on the front porch, you know? Before everyone else in town wakes up and things get busy. It’s nice to take a step to slow down.”

  Her eyebrows raised. “Me too. I do that almost every weekend. Or at least I try to. Sometimes that means skipping the gym, but it’s okay. It’ll still be there.”

  His blue eyes sparkled. “You don’t need it. You look great the way you are.”

  For a moment, her mind flashed to what it would be like lounging in a hammock together while he read to her. She imagined him holding the book with one hand and lightly stroking her hair with the other as beautiful, literary words spilled from his lips. Also, add a tropical island. And daiquiris.

  As if he’d read her mind, he asked, “Have you ever been to one of those poetry readings?”

  She nearly dropped her third taco. “You like to go to poetry readings? I find that hard to believe.”

  He held up his hands. “Okay, you got me. They’re not my thing. But I’d go to one if you wanted to.”

  A silence hung between them after that, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. It was more like an un-said punctuation mark, revealing the importance of what he’d just said. Did he really just ask me out on a date? No, that’s silly. He didn’t. But he hinted, right?

  Just as she was about to clarify his statement to find out just that, one of the cowboys walked past them and brushed against his shoulder. It pushed Luke back a bit, and he swiveled to see who it was. The cowboy broke into a grin and said, “Come on, Luke. We’ve got work to do. You’re slacking off.”

  “I’m coming,” Luke said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  As much as she was paying attention to what was unfolding, she dove into her fourth taco. She glanced up at the clock. She only had five more minutes to finish her lunch, put her tray away, and be at her next post. She had no idea who might notice if she was there or not, but she didn’t want to find out.

  “So I might see you around later today,” Luke said. “I don’t know if we’re on the same street, but I’ll try to see if I can wander around.”

  “I’d like that,” she said. And she meant it.

  “Come on, Luke,” the cowboy said from just inside the door.

  Luke stood up. “Looks like I should get going. I’ll see you around.”

  As soon as he left, she went into double-time mode. She’d been torn between talking to him longer and wanting to eat. She hated when other people were late, so she was an overachiever in that department. Although, it looked like that day, she would break that rule.

  She only had two bites left when she deposited her plate and the tray into the nearest holder. Wasting food was the last thing she wanted to do, but she was already two minutes late. She considered hiking up her skirt and running again—as close to running as she could get, anyway. With Luke nowhere in sight and a glance back at the cafeteria, she realized she’d probably skip lunch entirely for another chance to talk to him like that again.

  Chapter Eight

  “So,” Samuel started. “I want to hear how your new position is going.” He eased back in the chair and glanced up at the framed gun holster on the wall. “I realized I tossed you to the wolves a while ago so I figured it was only fair to check in.”

  Lynn shifted in her seat. What she really wanted to do was to ask him how much longer it would be before she could go back. It had been a long two weeks, and she’d learned more than she wanted to on what it took to be a face character. She’d been asked so many questions by customers, some not having to do with her character or the time period. At all. One guy even asked for her phone number while she was in character. She had to politely reject him in character, which was a challenge in itself.

  But if she threw herself at convincing Samuel, it might actually be counterproductive to her cause, so instead, she sat calmly in her chair, waiting for the right opportunity. She was there to be a good employee and help the company. That was the idea, anyway.

  “It’s going all right,” she said. “There’s a lot to learn, and everyone else has more experience. I imagine it would take a long time to really get it down.” She meant it to be an argument for her to stop, but she realized how it could be an argument to do it longer. She mentally pinched herself.

  “It’s more of an art than a science. I’m sure Carol went over all the details with you. Did you find her information helpful?”

  She nodded. There was no need to pick a fight unnecessarily. Carol wasn’t intentionally trying to get on anyone’s nerves—just the way her natural personality was. “There was…a lot of information.”

  He chuckled. “That tends to be the case with Carol, but she does good work, so I let her run with it.”

  “I’m surprised she isn’t a face character with how much she’s into the roles.”

  “No, she wouldn’t last an hour doing that. She’d probably point out how someone didn’t button their clothes properly or recommend a more efficient way to walk.”

  That sounds about right, she thought.

  “So tell me about what you’ve learned from other face characters that would be helpful for a new person,” he continued.

  This was great. More than likely, this was turning out to be an exit interview, probably to pave the way for the next person. “Well, I’ve learned how to interact with customers without breaking character. Most of them are really good at it, better than I’l
l ever be. Luke, for example, didn’t even blink out of character when I first saw him out. He’s great with them.”

  “Guests, you mean.”

  “Right.”

  “Okay, so those are the good examples. Is there anyone you’ve observed that you learned what not to do? In other words, opportunities where you can do better?”

  She took a moment to think. “Everyone’s been on their game, really. They’re great examples.”

  Samuel gestured. “Go on.”

  She adjusted her skirt. “The only thing I could think of was a face character who was leaving—I assume at the end of his shift and walked by a customer. Guest.”

  “And didn’t interact with the guest?”

  “I’m pretty sure Jasper didn’t see the boy, otherwise he would’ve stopped and talked with him.”

  “Jasper, you said?” He wrote something down on the notepad sitting on his desk.

  “Like I said, I’m pretty sure he didn’t see him, otherwise he’d stop and talk. He’s normally great with custo…guests. It was just an off moment, I’m sure.” She had no idea whether Jasper was good with kids or not, but it only felt right to help the guy, now that she’d just ratted him out. Jasper was a bit odd, but she didn’t want him to get in trouble either.

  “I’m glad you put that in the category of what not to do. You know that we always need to be engaging and recognizing guests of any age. If they’re pissed, they don’t come back.”

  “Absolutely. I see what you mean.”

  “Good. Well, know that I’m still working on getting a replacement, although I’m pretty close. Over the last three days, I’ve had a handful of interviews. When it rains, it pours, I guess. I think there are some keepers in the mix, so it may not be too much longer until you’re back.”

  Her chest heaved with a sigh. “That’s good to hear. I can tell you I’m definitely ready.”

  He closed the notebook shut. “I think we’re all set here. Not to be rude, but I have an appointment after this. I appreciate all your hard work. Not many people are as flexible as you’ve been.”